The Parable of the Dying Seed (John 12:20-26)

Mentioned in this episode: 
Five Laws Of The Dying Seed by Fuchsia Pickett.   

Transcript

Welcome And Summer Rhythms

Audrey 0:00

Hello friend, welcome back to Grace for My Home. I'm Audrey McCracken and what a blessing it is to be back with you again this week. I hope that you're doing well. Our days are busy, they're so busy, and it feels like our weeks are short, but summer is on the way and it seems like that kind of slows everything down. I was thinking today as I was doing some things that I'm not going to be used to having my husband home, like he'll be home during the summer. Now he does have some trips, and so there'll be weeks that he won't be home, but he is a high school principal, so he will also have some extra time this summer. And we're planning some summer vacations, trying to work it around all my kids and their schedules. I'm sure you're the same way. We're trying to find a week where we can all get together if it's just for a long weekend and do something as a family. And it seems as they get older, that gets harder and harder to do. But I know it will work out. I know it will. Other news. I mentioned this briefly on one of my other podcasts the last month. But for you who follow Grace for My Home and have been listening from the beginning, you know that I opened a coffee shop for my church. And the it progressed through the entire broadcast of Grace for My Home. I started it and opened it, and I've every now and then I'll I'll mention it on the podcast. But it's called Awakened Coffee Bar, and it's in Mullins, South Carolina. And it's just a way for our church to minister in that city. Our church was actually in another city, if you'd call it that, really a rural, a rural area. And we felt like God put Mullins on our hearts. So we went and opened a coffee shop in that city, even before our church moved there. Our church actually meets there now in the city. But before that, we had a coffee shop. And I I had never done anything like that, never thought I would do anything like that. I love coffee, always have. But we did it. My husband at the time was the pastor, and he asked me, you know, to do this because

Handing Off A Coffee Shop Season

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he's a pastor, but he also is a high school principal. And he said, Audrey, I just can't do both. I want you to open this coffee shop. And I prayed about it, and I felt like the Lord said, Yes, do this. And so I put my whole heart into it, pulled some other people along, including my sister. She's helped me from the very beginning. And we opened a very nice coffee shop in the city of Mullins. And I know that it's made a difference there. It's given people a place to gather, friends, family. It's brought people together, and that's our heart. And I know that that the Lord has used that place, and he's used it in my life. My youngest kid, Caleb, he his last two years of homeschool, we homeschooled in and out of that coffee shop. He can run the place, and I'm that's no joke. He could run Awaken Coffee Bar if needed, and it it did something in him. But this year I announced that I'm stepping away. The coffee shop is doing great. We're going into the third year. This June will make three years, but I feel like the Lord has tapped me to move on and do other things. And my heart has always been ministry. Even the coffee shop, I approached it as a ministry, and that is how we operate it. That's how we run it. Yes, it's a business, it has to make money, can't lose money, or it's no longer a business, right? But the heart of it is people. But I feel like the Lord has shown me that my time there is done and that it's going to be in good hands. I'm leaving it with my church, the elders of my church, and specifically my sister who has run it with me from the beginning. So she definitely has the heart for it. And I'll be there. I'll be, I'll volunteer there. I'll still be checking in. You know, I've told them if they have, you know, if they want my opinion, they're welcome to ask. I don't know that they will, but um, I do love that place. But like I said, my heart is ministry, and I feel like God is opening up some new doors for me. And so I would appreciate your prayers if if you would pray for me that I would just have clarity and and God would show me the direction to go. It's kind of like stepping out of the boat, you know, when you when Peter was saw Jesus on the water and and he said, Lord, if that's you, then tell me and I'll come. And he said, Come, Peter. And Peter stepped out of the boat. That's how I feel right now. I feel like start, I feel like opening the coffee shop was like that. Like, Lord, are you sure? And he said, Yes, do it. And I did it. And now I feel like the same season where God is saying, Okay, it's time for something new, and I'm stepping out in faith. So your prayers would be greatly appreciated. This week I want to talk with you on a subject that may not be extremely popular, and I'm okay with that. You know, most of the time we don't like to talk about heavy topics. We don't normally want to talk about death or dying or hardship or trouble or sacrifice because those are not easy things, not easy things to go through or to talk about. But it's hard to talk about the Christian life without talking about those things, because those things are interwoven into the Christian life. They're part of life. You can't have the good without going through the bad. And Jesus even said, you know, in this world you will have trouble. I've overcome the world, but you will have trouble. See, Jesus came to set us free, and that's good news. But the hard part of that good news is that he came to set us free from sin. It's often woven into our hearts and our minds because we live in a sinful world, we live in a fallen world, and we also have these fallen bodies. You know, one day we will be like Jesus, one day we will see him and

Why Faith Includes Hard Things

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we will be like him, the word says, and we will get a new body. But for now, this is where we live, and this is these bodies are what we live in, and they have learned to like many of the things here on earth, and some of those things are not the best things for us, and so there's a there's a battle. If we hated our sin, it would be easier to let it go, but often our sin is connected to things that that we really like, and it sometimes it's things that bring us comfort and things that make us feel good about ourselves. And so sin is tricky like that. It often disguises itself as something something good, something less offensive than than sin. You know, it might be we might call it a weakness or a bad habit. And I'm speaking out of experience here, okay? I'm not condemning you, I'm speaking out of my own experience, and I'm not trying to convince you of that there's sin in your life, you know, or to condemn you for it, because only the Holy Spirit can reveal sin in our lives, and He we have to be sensitive to Him and we have to want to get rid of things that are hindering our walk with the Lord. But Jesus came to set us free. He came to make a way for us when there was no way. He wants us to come out of sin, to come out of the bondage that it brings. In John 8 32, Jesus said, You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free. And then in John 17 17, he said, Sanctify them by truth. Your word is truth. The word of God, the Bible, it's truth, and it sanctifies us. And as we read the Bible, then we know the truth, and it gets inside of us, and it starts moving things around, and it can set us free. It can show us the sin that's in our heart and give us the desire to get rid of it. You know, only God can do that. Only God can show us the sin and give us the desire to get rid of it, and give us faith that that's possible. In John 14, 6, Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, and the life. And John 10 10, he said, I came that you may have life and have it abundantly. See, that's the thing about the Christian life is God wants us to have life. He wants us to live to the fullest. He wants us to enjoy this life that he's given us. But the only way to do that is

Truth That Exposes And Frees

Audrey 8:50

to follow him. The only way to do that is to let go of those things that would hinder our walk with him. And often we we don't see those things. We don't see them when we're walking in the everyday life, and when there are things, those things, when there are things that we like that we don't want to let go of that God is putting his finger on and saying, Let this go. This is hindering your walk with me. You know, Hebrews 4 12 says, for the word of God is alive and active, sharper than any double-edged sword. It penetrates even the divining of soul and spirit, joints and marrow. It judges the thoughts and the attitudes of the heart. And that's one of the reasons why it's so important to read the Bible. And when we read the Bible, God is able to show us things. It says that He divides things between soul and spirit. He shows us things that we can't figure out on our own, that nobody else can tell us. But when God opens our eyes, we see it, and we he reveals to us the thoughts and the attitudes of our heart like nobody else can. See, I can see a weakness or what I would perceive as a fault or a sin in someone. And if I were to go to that person and tell them, they would probably be offended because I'm not without sin myself, and I know that. Now, there are times when that's appropriate. You know, there are times when my children were younger when I felt like I had to tell them your attitude is wrong, or this is not the way God wants us to live or to walk with each other. You need to forgive, you know, those kind of things. But as we mature and we get older, we as adults can be very sensitive to people pointing out our shortcomings. And often, especially if we don't have a relationship with that person, a strong relationship with that person, then when they try to do so, we will cut them off. We won't listen to them, we'll we'll be angry at them. And so we have to be very careful when we go to someone to point out their sin. But see, the Holy Spirit, and He's God, He knows how, He has a way of putting His finger on things that other people can't. And not only does He reveal it, but somehow He gives us this desire to get rid of it, and He gives us this hope that that's possible. Because I've seen things in my life before, and I've thought I I will never be free of that. That is so ingrained in me that I don't even know how to start. But the Holy Spirit will not only reveal it, but He'll give us faith that being free from that thing is possible. But we have to have time with Him. You know, He's He's not gonna interrupt our thoughts, He's not gonna, He can, but that's not normally how He speaks. Normally He speaks in that still, small voice. And if we're not reading the Word, so He can show us things in it, if we're not spending time with God, if we're not listening and we don't have ears to hear, if we're not quieting our soul, at least for a portion of the day, if we're not giving God that opportunity, then He can't speak to us and show us the areas where we need help, where we need to change, or the things that we need to let go of so that we can walk closer to Him. It's about being sensitive to the Holy Spirit and about giving him an opportunity to speak into our lives because he wants to speak, he wants to reveal things, he wants to make us more like Jesus, but we have to allow him, we have to give him the opportunity to do that. Jesus is a redeemer, he's our redeemer, he's paid the price for all of our sin and he's become the way for us, he set us free, but we have to follow the path that he set before us, and we have to mirror his example. When he was preparing his disciples for his departure, in John 17, he's asked by one of his disciples, Lord, just show us the way. And he said, You know the way, I am the way. See, he walked before them in the manner that they needed to walk, but they couldn't until he came and showed them the way and died to set them free from their sin. And he revealed this kingdom principle that life only comes through death, that the only escape we have from sin and the sin nature is death of self, is death. And he showed us the way. Also in the Gospel of John, there's a story where Jesus is with his disciples, and some Greeks inquire about him. They want to have an audience with Jesus. It's in John chapter 12, starting in verse 20, and it says, Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast. These then came to Philip, who was from Bethia of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, Sir, we wish to see Jesus. Philip came and told Andrew, and Andrew and Philip came together and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, The hour has come for

Life Comes Through Death To Self

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the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If any one serves me, he must follow me, and where I am, there my servant will also be. If any one serves me, the Father will honor him. Now my soul has become troubled, and what shall I say? Father, save me from this hour, but for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify your name. We don't we're never told if these Greeks get their request, if they get to actually speak to Jesus. But when they when Jesus is asked and he said, These people want to see you, he reveals something about himself and his mission here. He says, Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it abides alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit. That's a kingdom principle. When a grain of wheat goes into the ground, it dies. What it was will never be again. But it becomes something new and it brings forth more of itself, more like its kind. And that's what Jesus did. He went into the ground. And for three days he was dead. He gave his life, but he rose again and he brought new life. And because he did, because he was the firstborn among many brethren, we too can have this newness of life, this new life that's in Christ. We can be born again by the Spirit. But Jesus is saying, This is the way. You must die, you must lose your life in order for real life, for eternal life to come. Many years ago, when I was preparing to leave my job in the corporate world and become a stay-at-home mom, it's something I'd prayed about for a long time. But it's one of those things that it gets real, you know, when when you when you're writing your letter of resignation and you're looking at your bank account and you're thinking, okay, our finances are about to be cut in half. And it gets real. And I remember during that season, the Lord put a little book in my hand, and it was by a minister called Fuchsia Pickett. The the name of that book, if I recall, is the Parable of the Dying Seed. And now when I look back, I realize that God was using that little book to prepare me for what I was about to go into, for the season I was about to go into, because I had never been in a season like that. And I thought I knew what I wanted, and I thought I knew what God had called me to do. But the truth is I really had no idea, which is how it usually is when God calls us to something. We have in our mind what it's going to be like, but it it rarely turns out that way. And so

When Obedience Feels Like Burial

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the Lord used that little book to prepare me. And I'll try to find that book and see if it's still in print, and I'll put the link in the show notes. But in that book, she talks about this parable and what Jesus is saying to his disciples. He's preparing them for what is to come and how life, God's life, comes from us. See, our life is like a seed. And we get to choose what we do with that seed. And we can protect that seed and hold on to that seed, but then life will not come from that seed. It life only comes from a seed when that seed is buried in the ground. And when a seed goes into the ground, it's cold and it's dark and it's all by itself. And it can easily, and understand I'm using figurative language here. I know that seeds don't think or feel, but it can honor it can easily feel like you have been forgotten and that your life doesn't matter. And it can feel like you are dying. And you are dying. You are dying to self. And that's how it felt for me when I first came home to my children. I felt like I was dying. I felt like the life that I had was was no more. And that I was buried and that no one saw me, and that it was it was just dark. And the Lord used that little book to remind me, hold on, Audrey, hold on, because I'm doing something, transforming you from what you were into what you will be. And it doesn't, you won't look anything like you did when you went in. You'll look different. And not only will you look different when you come out, but you'll also have fruit. You'll also have other ones coming up behind you that are going to look a lot like you. And one day they'll have their season when they have to choose that they're going to go into the ground and die and give their life so that they can bring new life. And that's how the kingdom works. It's a kingdom principle. If we save our life, if we protect our life, and we never do the hard things and we never obey God and go and do the things He's asked of us, which often feel like we're dying, then we will never experience that joy of new life. And as we hold on, I think about that scripture that says Galatians 6, verse 9, it says, Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. See, when you're buried like that, when God has you buried and it feels like you're all alone, and it feels like nobody sees you and there's no light shining on you, it's easy to give up on the process. You know, you it's kind of like you just come out the soil and say, No, I'm you know, I'm I'm not doing this anymore. This isn't worth it. And you never get to see the harvest because you didn't stay buried. But when God buries you, He there is a process. It takes time. You know, there's seed time and harvest. And

Do Not Abort The Process

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there's time in there. And that time, during that time, God is doing something. We don't see it, we may not understand it, but that's part of faith. That's part of trusting God, is that He's with you, that He will never leave you, He will never forsake you. But there's a strong temptation during that time to abort the process. But if we'll stay in there, if we'll stay in the process, if we'll keep with the process, then we will bear much fruit. We will enjoy that abundant life. Amen. Isn't that good? But we we need to know that there's a process. See, if we don't know that that's part of the process, then it's really easy just to give up. But when when somebody tells us and when the Holy Spirit reveals to us that this is part of the process, God hasn't forgotten you, then it helps us to hold on. When we tell each other, hey, this is part of the process. Don't give up. God's still working. He hasn't forgotten you. Then that gives us hope to endure and to persevere through those times when it just seems it seems ridiculous to keep holding on. Well, don't abort the process. Don't come out of the soil before it's time. But you're you're probably saying, Audrey, I'm dying. I'm dying in here. That's part of the process. You're going to come up a different person. You're going to come up in new life. And isn't that what you want? A meaningful life, a life that matters, a life that makes a difference, a life that has a legacy. You know, to leave a legacy, isn't that the life you want? That's abundant life. And Jesus is showing us the way. It's the way He lived. He lived obedient. He went into the ground and died. He died so that new life could come from him. And we are not Jesus, don't get me wrong. There's nothing redemptive about our death except that it mirrors Jesus's. And it is a kingdom principle that when I surrender to God, when I become his, when I allow him to plant me somewhere, then he will bring life from it. And the only way to have that kind of life is to sacrifice the one you have now. That's the only way. See, it's it's a kingdom principle. It sounds counterintuitive. It doesn't sound like it, it doesn't seem like it makes sense, but life comes from death, and victory comes from defeat. And being set free comes through going through the trial, going through the suffering. See, Jesus became the seed through which all believers would be produced. He was buried in the darkest of places, only to rise again in a new form and to bring many more with him in his own image. We are extremely blessed to be a part of the family of God. You may feel today like you've lost your way, you may feel like you've been forgotten by God, even forsaken. Maybe you've believed the lie that God's promises don't always hold true. Or that it didn't hold true for you. And the life of God is nowhere to be found. But if we don't give up, if we hold true to Jesus and we believe Him, even when it looks hopeless, new life will come. That seed of God that's buried deep inside of us, it will be raised again. Its head will come up and break the soil that has it hidden. New life will come if we stay buried with Jesus, if we follow his example. There are seasons when we must hold on to God's promises and we must pray for God's will and for his plan for our lives, even when it seems like God's left us. Have you ever been disappointed in God? Have you ever felt like he's let you down? Like his promises didn't deliver? Like he left you buried in the dark. I promise you he has not forgotten you. He knows exactly where he placed you, he knows exactly where you are, and he's transforming you into something new. He is separating you from the person you used to be. You're in the process. It's not over yet. Don't give up on God, because he hasn't given up on you. He loves you dearly, and he has a good plan for you. And he knows what he's doing. But we have to stay in the process, and it's good. On the other side, it's good. You know, when you're dying, it doesn't feel good. And I've had seasons of dying, seasons where I just thought it was over. I just thought, you know, God has it has not kept up his end of the bargain. I mean, I've really felt that way. You know, let's let's be real. I have felt that way. I felt like I have been, I I believed in a lie. I believed that something good was going to come out of this situation, and nothing good has come out of this situation. But now when I look back on it, I see the hand of God. But you have to get on the other side of it. You know, when when when the soil starts to part and your head comes up from the soil and you see the sun again, and you feel the warmth of the sun again, and you see the joy that comes in the morning. It's all worth it. It's gonna be worth it, but you just need somebody to tell you in the middle to hold on so that the harvest will come, the harvest of righteousness, the goodness of God. You know, I believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. You know, we're not just gonna see the goodness of the Lord when we die and go to heaven. We're gonna see the goodness of the Lord here and now in this lifetime. Like I said, there was a season when I come home to be with my children that the Lord prepared me, when he showed me this principle and said, I'm gonna take you through this. This is gonna feel like you're dying, but you got to hold on to the end. And that was that was not the last time that I've been through that process. But learning that it is a process really does help because you you in the middle of it, when you want to kick against the bricks and you want to just say, I give up, you know, I've I must have misunderstood what God meant. I must have misunderstood what the Bible really said. If you'll hold on to the goodness of God and believe that he who called you is faithful, then you will enjoy the goodness of God. You will see the breakthrough and it will be worth it, I promise you. Before you go today, I would like to pray for you. Father, I thank you for my friend. I thank you that you are shining your light on her. She may not see it right now, but Lord, soon, Lord, she will see the breakthrough. She will see the sky opening. Oh, she will see the sky opening, and she will feel your warmth again. And I pray, Lord, that right now that you would help her to hold on, that you are for her, that you're not against her, that you are working all things together for her good. And Lord, that through these seasons, Lord, you're making us into the person that you created us to be, that we're going to be a different person on the other side. And Lord, that's that's how your kingdom works. And we thank you that you've not left us in the dark, but Lord, you're shining your light on us, that we would not stumble and fall. And we love you, Lord. We give you all the glory in Jesus' name. Amen.